B’nai B’rith welcomes the restoration of full relations between Israel and Turkey—hopefully renewing a longstanding partnership.

The normalization of relations between Israel and Turkey—the region’s only two democracies—sends a strong message of stability in a troubled part of the world.

In a March 22 phone call, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to restore full relations between the two countries, which will include the exchange of ambassadors once again, and hopefully open the door to a resumption of cooperation in many spheres.

This positive development comes amid the rapidly deteriorating situation in Syria, where human rights groups estimate 70,000 Syrians have been killed in the two years since the uprising against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and countless thousands have been displaced.